Hair
by PinkRaichu
Summary: Tamiya Ryoko's baby boy was supposedly given up for adoption. Told through the perspective of that child, we find out that this isn't the case. This story follows the boy's journey as he integrates into society after being stuck in a lab for most of his life, and tries to understand his obsession with hair.
1. Chapter 1

**Hair Chapter 1**

The first thing I remember is bright lights and syringes, doctors hovering over me. From what I understand, most babies are born at a hospital, with tests, needles, and nurses all making sure they are healthy. Then, a day or two after they are born the majority of babies leave the infirmary, except for the few that are born sick. However, I was continuously surrounded by those doctors, those lights, that equipment. Always scared of the next injection, the subsequent test that was going to make me uncomfortable and insecure. But I wasn't sick. I know this because the doctors were always discussing how my results came back normal and how my body was functioning properly. If I were to estimate, this continued until I was 7 or 8 years old.

I recently read about animals raised in captivity: when they grow up on their own, without any family or playmates, they do not know how to function in social situations. You can probably envision how my first experience with other children went. Yes, it was as much as a failure as possibly imaginable, only it was worse. Because of my obsession with hair.

"Roku, get off the table."

I turned to look toward the doctor, surprised. The staff rarely used my name. I am not sure if all of them even knew my name.

"Okay, Megun- _kyouju_ ," I responded. On the other hand, I had personally memorized all of the doctors' names, despite not knowing their appearance. Their faces were always obscured, surgical caps on their heads, and surgical masks covering their faces. They also wore big goggles over their eyes and gloves on their hands. I could only tell the doctors apart from their voices and their mannerisms.

Megun- _kyouju_ walked toward the security door. She took out a keycard that was hidden in her lab coat and swiped it on a terminal. Next, she put her thumb on a scanner and an automated voice crackled through a speaker: "Please state your name."

"Megun Tomoyo." With that, the door opened and Megun- _kyouju_ stepped through, paying no attention to me. But instead of closing the door and stifling a bored "goodbye" like she usually did, she stood still. "Get off the table," she repeated, turning around. I followed her instructions. "Good. Come." I awkwardly walked up to the door, but dared not to place my foot through the threshold. "I said to come," she repeated once more.

I looked up at her. It wasn't like her to give unclear orders. "I don't understand," I said.

"Place one foot in front of the other."

I took a microscopic step forward.

" _Through_ the doorway."

"But I was told-"

"Don't make me repeat myself."

She didn't. I stepped through the door and:

"Asset out of containment," rang the automated voice. "Asset out of containment. Please take precautionary measures-"

Megun- _kyouju_ entered some kind of code into the terminal and the room fell to its usual beep-filled silence. "Ignore that," she said. "I forgot to disarm your security beacon."

"Why do we need to take precautionary measures?"

"Take a step toward me so I can close the door."

 _Sssssssshhhh._ The steel slab slowly closed. For the first time, I saw the back of the door and I didn't hear the constant beeping of monitors and clanking of metal. It made me uneasy.

"Come," said _Megun-kyouju_. We walked to a small, dim-lit room, which was not as exiting or noisy as the other room. "Put your arms up."

"Are we doing exercises?" I asked.

"I am changing your apparel." She peeled off the skintight one-piece that covered every inch of my body, from my collarbone to the tips of my fingers and toes. She replaced it with some other kind of clothing, but it was so dark I couldn't see what it looked like. The only thing I could tell was that it was much more comfortable than the one-piece. She also grabbed my feet (which were not covered in this new outfit) and began putting something on them.

"What are those?" I asked.

"Socks and shoes."

When Megun- _kyouju_ finished changing me, she left the room for a minute. "Stay here and don't do anything." She came back also wearing new clothes, although her back was to me. As she turned toward me and turned on the light, I was hoping I could finally get a look at her face, but it was covered in some kind of cloth that was wrapped around her neck several times. She wore a different kind of surgical cap that came all of the way down past her ears. She had dark goggles over her eyes and gloves on that were different than the powdery, plastic ones she always wore. Her lab coat was also much bigger and heavier than usual.

"Why are you dressed like that?" I asked.

"These are winter clothes. They are meant to keep my body warm due to the cold weather outside."

She came toward me and began to put the same kind of funny clothing on me, including the weird surgical cap, neck-cloth, and gloves. Then it occurred to me. "Am I going outside too?"

"Yes."

"Really? I am excited. Is that the right word? Because I have never been outside. I mean, I have read about it in all of the science books you gave me, but there were never any pictures in them so-"

"Enough. We are running late. Wear these." She pulled out another pair of the dark goggles.

"Why do I need these?"

"Your eyes are not accustomed to sunlight."

They weren't. Even with the extra protection, my eyes couldn't help but squint against the fresh sunlight, and my skin couldn't help but bristle as the dry wind brushed against my cheeks. We walked a short while in silence. Where to I didn't know. My eyes still hadn't adjusted to the natural light and I was attempting to take everything in at once, a whirl of new sights, smells, and sounds. Sky scrapers, car exhaust, birds chirping. _I have read about these in science articles_.

I also heard and saw people talking. People. _People?_

There were not many because it was early in the morning, but there _were_ people. I glanced around, trying to see what they looked without all of the surgical attire. However, because of the cold, everyone had their head and faces covered like Megun- _kyouju_ and me. Even without that, I don't think I would have been able to make out their faces; the intense sun on my unaccustomed eyes blurred out the finer details.

After another minute or two, we arrived at a small building. "Everyone is already inside because of the cold. Don't do anything. Let me introduce you to the instructor first." She grabbed my hand and pulled me inside. "Hello Fujibayashi- _sensei_ , this is Roku-"

At a moment like this, you would assume that I would be overwhelmed, having never been around other children or normal humans. That the chaos, noise, and commotion would completely overpower all of my senses and I would break down. But instead, the opposite happened. I spotted something in the crowd of children that completely caught my attention, more than the new faces, colors, and all of the other things I didn't understand.

That was the first time I saw it. It was fascinating. It came in different shades, lengths, and textures. It was almost like an extra layer of skin and yet it was different, more nimble. I took off the cap on my head and touched my bare, prickly skin. Why didn't I have this? Why had I never seen it before? Then I realized. They shaved my head every day. Even so, there were no mirrors. Sometimes I would see my reflection in the glass and metal around me, a bald head and a longing face. The rest of me was always covered in that one-piece, which I realized was very different from the other children's clothing. I also had never seen my bare body when I had to use the bathroom because my special one-piece absorbed and broke down my waste. Whenever the doctors did change my one-piece or gave me a bath, they covered my face "for protection". _From what?_

And as I said, the doctors themselves were always covered. Even now, Megun- _kyouju_ was hiding behind that neck-cloth, as if she didn't want anyone, let alone me, to see her face.

I looked around the room. Everyone had it, even the other adult Megun- _kyouju_ was talking to. A girl (although I didn't quite know the difference at the time, except for their tone of voice) was running around, the strange material hanging all the way down past her waist. I had never seen something so flowing and loose.

"Roku, come. I need to introduce you to your instructor."

I glanced over at the "instructor", but I was distracted. The girl passed right by me, the substance so long that it brushed against my cheek as she ran. It was soft yet bristly at the same time and I couldn't help myself when my fingers reached out and grabbed a fistful of it ( _it's hard yet flexible_ ), yanking so hard that she fell backwards, hitting her head on the hard floor.

* * *

Japanese Dictionary:

 _kyouju_ \- Professor

* * *

 _Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed it, please leave a comment or review :3 ~Rai_


	2. Chapter 2

Down she went, a wonderful whirlwind of the swirling substance churning around her as she fell. "EEEEEAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" the girl screamed, her voice more high-pitched than a hearing test tone. She curled up on the floor, clutching the back of her head.

Before I could react (although I admit that I had no idea _how_ to react), Megun- _kyouju_ grabbed my wrist and pulled me away from the crying girl, who now had a crowd of children gathering around her. "What you are doing?" the professor asked me. "I told you not to do anything. You disobeyed an order." Before I could respond (although, again, I wasn't sure _how_ to respond), she took out a small notebook from her pocket and began writing something down. As she was writing, she pulled down the neck-cloth, revealing her mouth, which was moving rapidly to the pace of her incoherent babble.

I looked past the professor, at the girl on the floor, still screaming and rubbing her eyes. I had never seen anyone act that way. Of course, I had cried and gotten upset when I was younger, but I had never seen anyone else do so. I was used to the serious, monotone attitudes of my doctors who never showed any interest in anything. Even now, Megun- _kyouju_ was acting unenthusiastic, even though I had acted out of line. But the girl was much more interesting than the professor's recurring humdrum demeanor. I had read about emotions in textbooks, and although I had probably experienced them myself at some point, I did not know any real-life examples of the different kinds and what they were supposed to look like because I had never witnessed them before. _Is this what they call sadness? "Not satisfied or pleased with a situation; expressing grief or unhappiness." And she also must be feeling pain. "An unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage, or described in terms of such damage."_

I went over the definitions in my head, as I watched the girl and Fujibayashi- _sensei_ , who was comforting her.

After making sure the girl was okay, Fujibayashi- _sensei_ came over to me and Megun- _kyouju_ , who was still mumbling to herself: "You have been trained to obey orders without question. I will have to report this as your first incident of disobedience-"

"That won't be necessary," Fujibayashi- _sensei_ interrupted, halting the professor's muttering. "I will be in charge of Roku's behavior while he is here at school."

The professor looked stunned for a moment, as if this possibility had never occurred to her. Then she blinked and said, "Very well, I suppose that a change of environment will occur in some variations and will also result in the necessity of a new authority figure." 

Fujibayashi- _sensei_ stared at her.

"What I mean to say is that I apologize," Megun- _kyouju_ continued. "He has never been exposed to other children before. I should have expected that he would be overwhelmed and that his behavior would change. I suppose that you should be the one in charge of his behavior while at school, so he can become used to other kinds of adults."

Fujibayashi- _sensei_ nodded and kneeled down in front of me. She leaned forward and put her face only an inch or two away from mine. I had never seen another human's face so close and unobscured. But I mostly concentrated on her hair, which was pulled back behind her head somehow. "Roku," she said in a gentle, almost musical tone. "There are certain rules in school and one of the rules is to respect everyone and their personal space. This means keeping your hands to yourself. It's not nice to pull someone's hair."

"Is that what it's called?" I asked.

"What?"

"That stuff on your head." I demonstrated by patting my head. "It's called 'hair?'"

The teacher looked at Megun- _kyouju_. Then, she turned back to me and said, "Yes, the 'stuff' on our heads is called hair. As I said, it is rude to pull on other people's hair because it is disrespectful, and it could hurt them."

"Okay."

"That is a part of respecting others is telling them you are sorry. You will have to apologize to her."

"Do I tell her now?" I asked, rubbing my head, wondering why it was so bare.

"No. As a punishment, you have to sit in Time Out for ten minutes. That's what happens when you do something wrong." She grabbed my hand, again very gently. Her hand was soft and smooth, unlike the rubber gloves the scientists wore that stuck to your skin, plastic and uncomfortable. She walked me over to a corner far from the other children. On the wall, in big letters, were the words: TIME OUT. Fujibayash- _sensei_ pointed to the corner and told me to sit. "Stay here for a minute. I need to speak to the professor."

She walked over to Megun- _kyouju_ and directed her to a different corner of the room, opposite of where I was. They whispered, but I was still able to see hear them. The doctors once told me that I was gifted with advanced hearing and therefore they were always testing it.

"You said he has _never_ been around other children _ever_?" Fujibayashi- _sensei_ asked, her voice no longer gentle.

"No. He has been confined to the lab his entire life thus far," replied Megun- _kyouju_ , lackluster as always.

"And it didn't occur to you that this was a bad idea?"

"We knew there would be some… social issues, but we needed to contain him until we were sure that he posed no threat to others."

"I understand that, but you couldn't even do a simple play date or something? Or make some kind of friend, like a doll, or even a pet? Show him videos of how others interact?"

"…."

"Did you show him anything from the outside world? I mean, he doesn't even know what hair is. How is that even possible?" Fujibayashi- _sensei_ asked, her voice rising in volume the more she spoke.

"The staff always wore medical gear so he has probably never seen an uncovered face. And the child needed to be constantly shaved due to… because of certain circumstances," Megun- _kyoujuu_ answered, her voice unchanging, steady.

"Okay, but he had no exposure to picture books or other educational materials where he could see other people?"

"We only had academic science articles with us at the lab and those were his main education."

"No pictures?" Loud and accusatory.

"No pictures." Quiet and matter-of-fact.

"You couldn't go out and buy him some normal supplies for children? You know what, never mind. This conversation is taking too long and my students are waiting for me. But at least I have a grasp of the situation and how incapable the lab is."

"I assure you, ma'am, that the lab is one of the top facilities in the nation-"

But Fujibayashi- _sensei_ wasn't listening. She sighed as she turned away from the professor, and walked over to me. "I didn't introduce myself, did I?" She kneeled in front of me again, as she did before. Part of her hair that was pulled back had come undone and it tickled her cheek as she spoke. "My name is Fujibayashi- _sensei_ and I am your teacher. You are Roku, right? You are my student. This place is a _school_. It is where children come to learn with other children. This a special school for special kids like you. There are children with different backgrounds and ages here. From now on, you will come here every day to _learn_ and I am going to be the one to _teach_ you."

She put her hand out toward me. "You can stand up now. I am going to introduce you to the rest of the class." I grabbed her hand, still amazed at its softness. "Come, away from the Time Out Corner." She walked me over to where most of the children were playing on the floor. Others were sitting at tables, or standing as they spoke to each other. The girl who had been hurt was sitting on the carpet surrounded toys, still sniffling softly to herself. Megun- _kyouju_ watched from the corner. She had pulled up her neck-scarf around her face again.

Fujibayashi- _sensei_ clapped her hands. "Everyone! Eyes on me please! I am sorry for the commotion before. This is Roku. He is going to be joining us starting today. I want you all to welcome him. But first, he has something to say to Ryoko."

They all stared at me, their eyes more analytical than the doctors at the lab. Some whispered to each other and exchanged looks.

What was the word I was supposed to say? How was I supposed to show respect? I only knew the kind of unrelenting respect I needed to show at the lab and the rules they expected.

The longer I stood there, the more the children stared, and the more they whispered. Some even laughed under their breaths.

Fujibayashi- _sensei_ leaned next to me and murmured, "Say the words, 'I am sorry, Ryoko.'"

"I… I…" I couldn't think with all of them staring at me. _Is this what those books refer to as anxiety?_

The way Fujibayashi- _sensei_ had spoken to me earlier was calming, so I decided to do the same thing. I walked up to Ryoko, the girl with the gorgeous hair, leaned close, and put my face near hers, just like the teacher. I noticed that her cheeks were sticky with her tears, her hair clinging to her moist skin. Then, in the same tone of voice as _Sensei_ , I said, "I am sorry, Ryoko. I am sorry for pulling your hair. It's just… I have never seen anything so beautiful before."

Everyone's reactions differed. Most giggled, and some continued to stare. Someone said, "Ooooooooooooh! He likes her!" which produced even more giggles. Megun- _kyouju_ remained unreadable, while Fujbayashi- _sensei_ seemed to be surprised.

As for Ryoko, she turned away, ignoring me. But I didn't mind. With her back to me, I could easily look at her hair.


End file.
